JP2874446B2 - Light source built-in pointer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pointer with a built-in light source suitable for use in an instrument that emits a pointer, such as a speedometer of a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An illuminating device of a pointer used for a speedometer of a four-wheeled passenger car is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 60-93993. In this lighting device, light emitted by a bulb fixed inside the instrument is made incident on the pointer from the light guide provided below the pointer, and the incident light is appropriately reflected and diffused throughout the pointer. Make the pointer shine.

[0003]

In such a conventional pointer illuminating apparatus, a bulb serving as a light source and a pointer are separately provided, and light incident on the pointer light guide portion is reflected many times, so that the entire pointer is illuminated. , The loss from the light source to the light emitting portion is large. For this reason, when used for a black face meter in which the entire instrument panel is covered with a smoked acrylic plate, the luminance required for visually recognizing the hands may not be obtained. In order to improve the brightness of the pointer, there is a conventional example in which the pointer itself is composed of a discharge tube, but the discharge tube must be specially designed according to the shape of the pointer, and maintenance is troublesome because an inverter is required. It is unavoidable that the cost rises. It is also necessary to take measures to prevent radio noise from increasing due to the discharge tube.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pointer with a built-in light source that can greatly increase the brightness of the pointer while using a light source with high versatility.

[0005]

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a pointer body having a hollow columnar shape and a slit 8 provided on one surface in a longitudinal direction thereof is described with reference to FIG. 2, a light guide column 3 formed in a solid rod shape, and formed with a reflective printing portion 10 formed on one surface in the longitudinal direction at least over a length substantially equal to the slit 8; A light source for receiving illumination light at one end of the light column; and a reflection printing unit configured to face the slit with the main body of the light guide column interposed therebetween. It applies to the pointer with built-in light source. In order to diffuse the heat accumulated around the light source 4, a heat radiation member extending toward the light guide column 3 is fitted around the light source 4 to achieve the above object. According to the pointer with built-in light source of claim 2,
In order to make the brightness of the hands uniform, the width of the reflective printed portion 10 in the circumferential direction of the light guide column 3 is wider at the center than at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the light guide column 3.

[0006]

According to the present invention, the light source 4 is provided in the pointer main body 2 by the light guide column 3.
The light emitted by the light source 4 is immediately incident on the light guide column 3 without repeating reflection and deflection. Then, the light incident on the light guide column 3 is irregularly reflected on the reflection printing unit 10, and the irregularly reflected light is shaped by the slit 8 of the pointer main body 2 and guided to the outside. Thus, the pointer 1 emits light according to the shape of the slit 8. The heat generated by the light source 4 is transmitted to the light guide column 3 and the pointer main body 2 by the heat radiation member.
Released to In addition, the light source 4 side is made heavy by a heat radiating member to maintain the weight balance of the light source built-in pointer 1. According to the light source built-in pointer of the second aspect, the amount of reflection of light incident on the light guide column 3 changes according to the width of the reflective printing unit 10, and the amount of reflection at the center of the light guide column 3 increases.

In the means and means for solving the above problems which explain the constitution of the present invention, the drawings of the embodiments are used to make the present invention easy to understand. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pointer 1 with a built-in light source according to the present embodiment includes a pointer main body 2, a light guide column 3 stored in the pointer main body 2, and a light guide column 3 stored in the pointer main body 2. And a light source bulb 4.

The pointer body 2 has a substantially cylindrical index portion 5, a plate-shaped valve storage portion 6 integrally formed on the base end side of the index portion 5, and is detachably mounted on the valve storage portion 6. The index portion 5 is formed with a slit 8 having a constant width extending in the longitudinal direction of the pointer main body 2. A rotating shaft 9 for attaching the light source built-in pointer 1 to the instrument is mounted on the lower surface of the index section 5 at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the pointer main body 2. Among the elements constituting the pointer main body 2, the index portion 5 and the valve attachment portion 6 are made of resin, and the cap 7 is made of brass. The reason why only the cap 7 is made of brass is to maintain the weight balance of the pointer 1 with built-in light source with respect to the rotating shaft 9. The reason why the cap 7 is detachable is that it is necessary to remove the cap 4 when replacing the valve 4.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Is formed by molding a transparent glass into a columnar shape having a circular cross section and a constant diameter. A reflection printing portion 10 extending in the longitudinal direction of the light guide column 3 is formed on a part of the outer periphery. The reflective printing section 10 is colored according to the emission color required for the pointer 1 with a built-in light source, and has a width w wider at the center than at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the light guide column 3. The reason for this width change will be described later. The light guide column 3 is inserted into the pointer main body 2 with its distal end surface abutting against the inner surface of the distal end of the pointer main body 2 and the reflective printing section 10 facing the slit 8 of the pointer main body 2 in the circumferential direction. The pointer body 2 is pressed against and fixed to an upper inner surface of the pointer body 2 by a set screw 11 screwed from a lower part of the pointer body 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, a bulb 4, which is a small incandescent lamp, is placed on a bulb mounting portion 6 of a pointer main body 2 in a state of facing one end surface of a light guide pole 3 in a longitudinal direction, and is provided with a cap 7. It is pressed down and fixed. Terminals (not shown) of the valve 4 are connected to a pair of terminal plates 12, 13 attached to the valve attachment portion 6.
Is exposed to the outside of the pointer main body 2 and bent downward near the rotation shaft 9.

The pointer 1 with a built-in light source according to the present embodiment is used by being incorporated in an instrument 20 for a vehicle as shown in FIG. FIG.
Reference numeral 21 denotes a housing of the meter 20, and 22 denotes a drive shaft of the meter 20. The drive shaft 22 and the rotating shaft 9 (not shown in FIG. 4) of the pointer 1 are coaxially combined with each other.
Is driven by a desired amount in the circumferential direction with respect to the housing 21, the pointer 1 rotates on a display panel (not shown) of the meter 20 to perform a predetermined display. On the housing 21, springs 23 and 24 for returning the hands 1 to the reference position are provided, and the terminal boards 12 and 13 of the hands 1 are connected to these springs 23 and 24. The mainsprings 23 and 24 are connected to a power supply (not shown) via terminal plates 25 and 26, a connector 27 and a switch unit (not shown), whereby the power supply and the valve 4 are connected according to the on / off operation of the switch unit. The valve 4 blinks intermittently. Reference numeral 28 denotes an insulating seat for preventing the mainsprings 23 and 24 from being short-circuited.

In the light source built-in pointer 1 having the above-described structure, since the bulb 4 is disposed to face the end face of the light guide column 3, the light from the bulb 4 does not repeatedly reflect or deflect. From the light guide column 3 immediately. The light incident on the light guide column 3 impinges on the reflection printing unit 10 and is irregularly reflected. The irregularly reflected light is shaped by the slit 8 of the pointer main body 2 and is guided to the outside. Thus, the pointer main body 2 emits light according to the shape of the slit 8.

As described above, according to the pointer 1 with a built-in light source of this embodiment, since the light from the bulb 4 is immediately incident on the light guide column 3, the light from the bulb provided separately from the pointer is transmitted to the pointer. The loss from the bulb 4 to the slit 8 is small, and the brightness of the pointer 1 is greatly increased, as compared with the conventional example in which the pointer 1 is diffused. Moreover, since the light emission shape is determined by the slit 8, there is no need to design the light source in accordance with the light emission shape of the pointer as in the case of using a discharge tube. Therefore,
Easy maintenance and cost reduction can be achieved by using general-purpose valves as they are.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the width w of the reflective printing section 10 is increased at the central portion to increase the amount of reflected light at the central portion of the light guide column 3. Valve 4
, And emits light at a luminance substantially equal to the luminance at the base end side of the light guide column 3 closest to the light guide column 3 and the luminance at the distal end side of the light guide column 3 to which reflection from the end face of the light guide column 3 is added. Further, according to the present embodiment, since the light emission shape is determined by the slit 8, the light emission shape can be easily changed according to the purpose, for example, by forming a slit 8A having an arrow-shaped tip as shown in FIG. There are advantages too. In addition, since the luminescent color of the hands is determined by the color of the reflective printing unit 10, there is also an advantage that the hands 1 having different luminescent colors can be obtained only by changing the color of the reflective printing unit 10.

Here, in the pointer 1 with a built-in light source shown in FIG. 1, since the bulb 4 is built in the pointer main body 2, heat is easily stored around the bulb 4. In order to diffuse this heat efficiently, as shown in FIG. 6, a cylindrical heat radiating member 30 extending toward the end of the light guide column 3 is fitted around the bulb 4 and the heat of the bulb 4 is transferred to the light guide column. It is only necessary to actively escape to the third side. When such a heat radiating member 30 is provided, there is an advantage that the weight balance of the pointer 1 can be adjusted not only by the cap 7 but also by the heat radiating member 30. Further, if the heat radiating member 30 is formed of a material having a high surface reflectance such as aluminum, the light of the bulb 4 is reflected toward the light guide column 3 so that the brightness of the pointer 1 can be further increased.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, the light emission color of the bulb 4 is adjusted by interposing a dimming filter 31 between the bulb 4 and the light guide column 3. For example, when the reflection printing portion 10 of the light guide column 3 is white and the emission color of the bulb 4 is orange,
By setting the light control filter 31 to blue, the emission color of the pointer 1 can be matched with the printing color of the reflection printing unit 10. Further, in the example of FIG.
The light from the bulb 4 is concentrated on the light guide column 3 side to further increase the luminance.

FIG. 7 shows that, by extending the lower surface of the heat radiation member 35 provided on the outer periphery of the bulb 4 toward the tip of the light guide column 3, the set screw 11 for fixing the light guide column 3 is changed.
This shows an example in which the lower surface side of the device is pressed through the heat radiation member 35. According to this example, there is no possibility that the reflection printing unit 10 is peeled or damaged by the set screw 11, and uneven emission of the hands 1 due to the peeling of the reflection printing unit 10 is prevented. In addition, in the heat radiation member 35 of this example, the reflective printed portion 10 is not damaged even when the heat radiation member 35 is fitted to the light guide column 3 by bending the front end portion 35 a on the lower surface side in a direction away from the light guide column 3. Care is taken.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show an example in which the light guide column 3 is fixed without using the set screw 11. FIG. That is, in this example, the notch surface 40 formed obliquely intersecting the axis at the tip of the light guide column 3 is brought into close contact with the constraint surface 41 formed in the pointer body 2 to guide the light in the pointer body 2. The rotation of the light column 3 is prevented, and the rear end of the light guide column 3 is pressed by the rib 42 formed on the cap 7 of the pointer main body 2, thereby preventing the light guide column 3 from moving in the axial direction and the radial direction. Have been. According to this example, since the set screw is not used, there is no possibility that the reflective printing section 10 is peeled off, and it is not necessary to operate the set screw, so that the number of assembling steps is reduced. As is clear from FIG. 9, the point that the light guide column 3 and the index portion 5 of the pointer main body 2 form a circular cross section is the same as in the above-described embodiments.

In the above embodiment, an incandescent light bulb is used as a light source. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
The LED 50 (light emitting diode) may be used as shown in FIG. In this case, since there is less heat generation than in the incandescent lamp, there is an advantage that the necessity of providing a heat radiating member is reduced. Further, the material of the light guide column is not limited to the glass rod, and other light guide materials such as resin may be used as long as heat resistance is satisfied. Furthermore, the cross-sectional shape of the light guide column is not limited to a circle,
An ellipse or any other cross-sectional shape can be selected. However, if there is an edge on the outer periphery of the light guide column, there is a possibility that this portion shines and uneven brightness occurs. Therefore, it is preferable to finish the outer periphery of the light guide column as smoothly as possible.

[0021]

As described above in detail, according to the pointer with built-in light source of the present invention, the light emitted from the light source is immediately incident on the light guide column without repeating reflection and deflection, so that the light source emits light. The loss up to the slit is reduced, and a much higher luminance than before can be obtained. In addition, since the light emission shape is determined by the slit, there is no need to design the light source according to the light emission shape of the pointer as in the case of using a discharge tube. Reduction can be achieved. In addition, the light emission shape can be easily changed only by changing the slit shape, and the light emission color can be changed only by changing the color of the reflective printing portion. Further, heat around the light source is efficiently diffused to the light guide column and the pointer main body, so that heat is hardly trapped around the light source.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the amount of reflected light at the central portion of the pointer is increased, the luminance of the central portion of the pointer, the base end side luminance of the light guide column closest to the light source, and the reflection from the end surface of the light guide column. This has the effect of increasing the visibility of the hands by emitting light at a luminance substantially equal to the luminance on the tip end side of the light guide column to which the light is added.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a pointer with a built-in light source according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a state where the pointer with a built-in light source of FIG. 1 is viewed from a direction II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the light guide column of FIG. 1 is viewed from a lower surface side.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a use state of the light source built-in pointer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example in which the slit shape of the light source built-in pointer in FIG. 1 is changed.

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example in which a heat radiating member is provided on the outer periphery of a bulb of the light source built-in pointer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a view showing a modification of the heat radiation member of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example in which the mounting structure of the light guide column is changed with respect to the light source built-in pointer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state in which the pointer with built-in light source of FIG. 8 is viewed in cross section along line IX-IX in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a view showing an example in which a bulb is changed with respect to the light source built-in pointer of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 pointer with built-in light source 2 pointer body 3 light guide column 4 bulb 8, 8 A slit 10 reflective printing section 12, 13 terminal plate 30, 35 heat radiating member 50 LED

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pointer body formed in a hollow column shape and provided with a slit on one surface in a longitudinal direction thereof, and a solid rod shape formed on a surface in a longitudinal direction thereof at least over the same length as the slit. A light guide column formed with a reflective print portion extending therefrom, and a light source disposed in the pointer main body to face one end in the longitudinal direction of the light guide column and causing illumination light to enter the one end thereof; A light source configured to face the slit with the main body of the light guide column interposed therebetween.
A radiating member extending toward the light guide column on an outer periphery of the light source in the built-in pointer;
A pointer with a built-in light source, which is fitted with . 2. The reflection mark in a circumferential direction of the light guide column.
The width of the printing unit is closer to the center than both ends in the longitudinal direction of the light guide column.
The light according to claim 1, wherein the light is widened.
Source built-in pointer.